Apparatus for charging a powdered ore sintering machine with a raw material



P 15, 1964 YASUHIRO SAWADA 3,143,763

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A POWDERED ORE SINTERING MACHINE WITH A RAW MATERIAL Filed Feb. 19, 1962 F|G.l FIG.2-

INV EN TOR.

Yasuhiro S awada Man/4M fiwm United States Patent 3,148,763 APPARATIE FOR CHARGING A PQWBERED URI; SINTERING MACEHNE WITH A RAW MATERIAL Yasuhiro Sawada, Kokura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, assignor to Yawata Iron Steel Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed Feb. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 173,993 Claims priority, application .lapan, Feb. 25, 1961, 36/6575 6 (llaims. (6i. 198-57) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for charging a sintering machine with a raw material.

A conventional method shall first be explained, for example, with reference to a Dwight-Lloyd type sintering apparatus. A raw material to be sintered is shaken out of a swinging spout against a back plate, flows onto a front plate, and is fed onto a sintering machine pallet while being segregated due to the inertia of the particles rolling down the front plate. The material is then cut by the forward end of a cut-off plate so as to have a cut-off plate so as to have a horizontal charge surface. In such method, it is so difiicult to regulate the amount of the raw material charge so as to always cut the top part of the raw material layer evenly with the cut-oil plate and recesses will necessarily be formed in the charge layer and will have a very bad influence on the sintering condition. It is therefore customary to keep the amount of the raw material charge somewhat larger than is required to just form the charge layer. Therefore, a fine powder part of the material containing much of the fuel ingredient will slide or roll along the front plate but a coarse powder part will flow over the fine powder part. Thus, on the conveyor pallet charged with the powdered raw material, the fine powder part will be packed in the charge layer, the density of the charge layer will be high, the aeration will be impeded and the production and ignition yield will be reduced. Further, even when the sintered ore produced in such a charge layer as is mentioned above is cracked by contraction, a very strong external force will be required in order to crush the sintered ore to granularity in which it can be used, for example, less than 150 mm. as the cracks will be mostly different in shape and size and also large blocks will form the greater part of the sintered charge layer. Further, if the large blocks of the sintered ore are forcibly crushed with such a strong external force, the sintered ore will be finely powdered. Therefore, the drawbacks of the conventional method are that the yield of the sintered ore product will be reduced, that the crusher must be high in wear resistance and that the driving horsepower and power cost will be high in crushing the large blocks of the sintered ore.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for eliminating the draw-hacks described above.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing sintered ore blocks wherein a powdered granular raw material is segregated and separated, the granular formation as segregated and separated is formed into a charge layer to be sintered and at the same time vertical slit clearances are made in the charge layer so that cracks will be produced at the slit clearances when the sintering is completed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for attaining the above mentioned object.

Other objects will become clear from the following explanation and the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a side View, partly in section of a conventional charging apparatus.

FIGURE 2 is side view, partly in section, of a charging apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation of the charging apparatus shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 1.

Patented Sept. 15, 1964 FIGURE 4 is an end view of a charge layer with slit clearances made by the charging apparatus shown in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the charging apparatus shown in FIGURE 2.

In a conventional apparatus, as shown in FIGURE 1, a raw material 5 to be sintered which is shaken out of a swinging spout 1 (which may be a drum feeder) Will collide with a back plate 2, will flow onto a front or inclined plate 3, will be fed onto a sintering machine pallet 14 while being segregated and will be cut by the forward end of a cut-01f plate 4 so as to have an upper horizontal charge surface. In such an apparatus, it is very difiicult to regulate the amount of the raw material charge so as to always cut the top part of the raw material layer evenly with the cut-off plate and recesses will necessarily be formed in the charge layer and will have a very bad influence on the sintering condition. It is therefore customary to keep the amount of the raw material charge somewhat larger than is required to just form the charge layer, as shown in FIGURE 1. For the above mentioned reasons, the raw material charge will be segregated between a point 6" on the pallet and a point 6 above a settling point 6. A fine powder part of the charge containing much fuel which will be above the settling point 6 will be blocked by the cut-off plate 4 and the flow of the raw material will be as indicated by the arrows 7 in The fine powder containing much of the fuel ingredient above the horizontal line from the point 6 to the lower end of the cut-oil plate 4 will be mixed in among the coarser particles in a coarse powder part which is at the level of the point 6 and only a small part of the fine powder will float up to the surface of the charge layer.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the apparatus according to the present invention comprises a swinging spout 1, a back plate 2, a front or inclined plate 3, a cut-off plate 4, a first guide plate 8, a second guide plate 9 and a conveyor pallet 14. The guide plates 8 and 9 are parallel to the cut-off plate 4 and are stepped in relation to each other and the cut-off plate in the direction of inclination of the inclined plate 3. That is, the upper edge of the guide plate 8 is above the lower edge of the cut-off plate 4, and the lower edge of guide plate 8 is below the lower edge of cut-elf plate 4. The upper edge of guide plate 9 is above the lower edge of guide plate 8, and the lower edge of guide plate 9 is below the lower edge of guide plate 8. The arrow 15 indicates the direction of the progress of the pallet. 16a, 16b 1611 and 17a, 17b 17n in FIGURES 3 and 5 are vertically aligned split plates for joining the guide plates and for making slit clearances in the charge layer. 18a, 18b 1811 in FIGURE 4 are slit clearances made in the charge layer by the slit plates. FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the present apparatus and shows the relative arrangement of the first guide plate 8, second guide plate 9 and slit plates Ida 1611 and 17a 1712.

In the operation of the apparatus, a raw material charge 5 shaken out of the swinging spout 1 (which may be a drum feeder) will slide down the back plate onto the front or inclined plate 3 and will be fed onto thepallet 14 of the sintering machin continuously in the manner shown in FIGURE 2 While being segregated due to the inertia of the particles rolling down the inclined plate 3. As the pallet 14 of the sintering machine progresses in the direction indicated by the arrow 15, the raw material charge located between the cut-oft" plate 4 and first guide plate 8 and between the first guide plate 8 and second guide plate 9 will fall down substantially vertically as indicated by the arrows 11 and 12 and will move to the charge layer to be sintered; That is to say, the segregated raw material charge will be divided into groups corresponding to the number of the guide plates and the particles in each group will not move to any other group, only fluctuating within their own divided groups. Therefore, the raw material of the charge will be delivered to a level of the charge layer corresponding to the position of each group as the segregation is carried out. The very fine powder part containing much or" the fuel ingredient will fiow along inclined plate 3 into the space between cut-oh plate 4 and guide plate 8 and will be fed to the top part of the segregated charge layer so that fuel particles will be always exposed on the surface of the charge layer to be sintered and the ignition yield will be remarkably increased. The largest particles of raw material will be fed over the top edge of the second guide plate 9 and will be fed as the bottom part of the charge layer to he sintered without employing any external force such as compression applied to the charge layer. Intermediate size particles W-ill fall into the space between guide plates 8 and 9 and be fed to the middle of the charge layer. As result thereof, the charge layer will become very fiuify and will have improved aeration and there will be an increase in the production of the sintered ore.

It has been found by experiments that, when the guide plates in both first and second steps are somewhat inclined to the direction of the progress of the pallet, the results will be better than when they are vertical.

In the present apparatus, it is preferable that a b a b and a a so that the density of the raw material layer to be sintered may be uniform. f a b and a b the possibility of causing density fluctuation within the charge layer will be strong. However, when sintering a very fine powder, in order to increase the aeration of the layer, it will be possible to make a b and a b The reason for making a a is that, it the amount decreases faster in the top part than in the lower part, the raw material in the top part will always llow and move to the lower part and very fine particles will be always kept in the topmost part. The action of the bottom edge of the second guide plate 9 on the raw material charge is exactly the same as in the case of the conventional method. Thus the raw material located above the horizontal line from the point It to the forward end of the second step guide plate 9 will be rolled into the raw material located at the point 10 as indicated by the arrow 13. The slit clearances in the charge layer to be sintered are made by the slit plates 16a 1611 and 17a 17m. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 4, such clearances are as designated by 18:: 1811 will be made. Therefore, the density in the slit parts will become so low that, as the sintering progresses, cracks will be made at the slit clearance parts 18a 18m and sintered ore blocks will be formed and will be very easily crushed.

As described above, when several vertical or inclined guide plates are provided besides the cut-off plate, the charge layer to be sintered will become very fluffy, the aeration will be improved, the production will be increased and, at the same time it is easy always to feed to the surface layer a fine powder rich in a fuel ingredient and the ignition yield will be able to be remarkably improved. Further, as the sin'tered ore blocks are formed by the slit clearances, they will be easily crushed, the possibility of their being more finely powdered will be reduced, the yield will be increased and the maintenance and control of the crusher will become easy.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for charging a charge layer on the conveyor pallet of a sintering machine which machine has means for dropping a powdered raw material to be sintered, said apparatus comprising a back plate adapted to receive the dropped raw material, an inclined front plate adjacent the end of the back plate inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the conveyor pallet for receiving the powdered raw material from the back plate, a cut-off plate on the bottom end of the inclined front plate extending transversely to the direction of movement of the pallet and depending from the front plate toward the conveyor pallet, and a plurality of guide plates extending parallel to said cut-oft plate and stepped in relation to each other and the cut-off plate in the direction of inclination of the inclined front plate, the upper edge of each guide plate being above the lower edge of the next adjacent guide plate in the direction of the cutoil plate and the upper edge of the guide plate adjacent the cut-off plate being above the lower edge of the cut-off plate, and the lower edge of each guide plate being below the lower edge of the next adjacent guide plate in the direction of the cut-off plate and the lower edge of the guide plate adjacent the cut-off plate being below the lower edge of the cut-oil plate.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide plates are vertical.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide plates are inclined to the vertical.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and slit plates between the cut-ofi plate and the guide plate next adjacent thereto and between the adjacent guide plates, said slit plates connecting the guide plates to the cut-ofi plate for supporting the guide plates in the apparatus and for producing slits in the charge layer.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the distance between the cut-off plate and the guide plate next adjacent thereto and the distance between adjacent guide plates is greater than the difierence in height between the lower edge of the cut-oil plate and the lower edge of the guide plate next adjacent thereto and greater than the differences in height between the lower edges of adjacent guide plates. I

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the distance between the adjacent guide plates is greater than the distance between the cut-off plate and the guide plate next adjacent thereto.

No references cited. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A CHARGE LAYER ON THE CONVEYOR PALLET OF A SINTERING MACHINE WHICH MACHINE HAS MEANS FOR DROPPING A POWDERED RAW MATERIAL TO BE SINTERED, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A BACK PLATE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE DROPPED RAW MATERIAL, AN INCLINED FRONT PLATE ADJACENT THE END OF THE BACK PLATE INCLINED IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE CONVEYOR PALLET FOR RECEIVING THE POWDERED RAW MATERIAL FROM THE BACK PLATE, A CUT-OFF PLATE ON THE BOTTOM END OF THE INCLINED FRONT PLATE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE PALLET AND DEPENDING FROM THE FRONT PLATE TOWARD THE CONVEYOR PALLET, AND A PLURALITY OF GUIDE PLATES EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID CUT-OFF PLATE AND STEPPED IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER AND THE CUT-OFF PLATE IN THE DIRECTION OF INCLINATION OF THE INCLINED FRONT PLATE, THE UPPER EDGE OF EACH GUIDE PLATE BEING ABOVE THE LOWER EDGE OF 